Strangers here
by bookworm437341
Summary: Jason was getting a little annoyed now. Instead of going home, he's waking up in a bared cell with his head feeling the exact same way it had when he first woke up from being captured with the same memory gap he'd been having for the last day and a half. Rewritten sequel to Time to Live - Time to Die.
1. Chapter 1

**All characters belong to their respective companies**

* * *

The first thing Roy noticed when he woke up was how sore his body was. Like he'd been repeatedly slammed into a brick wall for several hours. The next thing he noticed was that he was bound to a chair. His hands were flat against the back legs and wrapped in duct tape, a rope went around his midsection trapping his arms to his sides and his back to the back of the chair, and duct tape kept his ankles pressed against the front legs with the entire chair bolted to the floor.

 _Okay, think, how did I get here_? Roy asked himself as he began to take mental stock of his situation.

He was in his suit, and some of his weapons were still on him (a strange decision when trying to keep someone trapped, but it wasn't like he could reach any of them anyways). Roy could see his bow and quiver across the room on a table with an assortment of other weapons.

Someone groaned behind him.

 _I'm not alone_.

The way Roy was strapped to the chair made it so he couldn't turn to see who his company was. He was likely a captive just like Roy.

After a couple beats he could hear the sounds of chains tightening and then loosening. Whoever they were, they were doing their own mental assessment of the situation and were restrained differently.

Roy began pulling at his own restraints. There wasn't any give.

He grunted. _Well crap_.

He scanned the room, trying to gain a clue as to where he was being held. It was a large dark room, likely underground just by the feel the room was giving him, despite the size the room held almost nothing aside from the table with his and what he could assume were the other individual's weapons, and there weren't any guards.

Another interesting choice his captors had made. Leaving him with some weapons, his main weapons only a few yards from him, and seemingly unguarded. Either these were armatures who got lucky and were hoping their luck would continue or he was outclassed in every way imaginable.

The latter seemed far more logical as he still couldn't figure out how he'd gotten here, wherever here was.

The individual behind him had gone completely silent. Roy wasn't sure whether or not he could trust him. Sure they were in the situation together (maybe), but this guy could double cross him first chance he got, or could even be the whole reason Roy had gotten captured in the first place.

Roy, again tried turning so he could see whoever was with him. If he could just see him Roy could have a better idea as to what's going on.

He pulled and pulled against his restraints to no avail before exclaiming in defeat.

"Nice try, but we studied you long enough to figure out how to keep you in one place for a long time." A voice to Roy's left told him.

A man stepped out of the dark corridor. He wore a half smirk that told Roy all he needed to know about this guy. He was completely convinced he won. His green eyes scanned Roy and the other individual like a predator going in for the kill. He didn't look familiar. A possible third party trying to get an in with Shadows or the Light.

"I'm disappointed. I thought at least one of you would ask who I was or why I captured you or what's going on or where you are or even, hell, who the other person you're stuck with is."

"Well since you offered it." Roy said, mirroring the smirk his captor wore.

"Oh I didn't say I'd answer. I'm just surprised that this one individual isn't doing what I expected him to do." The man stepped forward, getting really close to whoever was behind Roy. "I mean you followed the beginning part of the script. Getting a silent read of the room, testing your bonds, and realizing that I was mere feet away before doing… what is this? Meditating? I'm assuming the answer is yes. Hope that's gonna get you out of here?"

Whoever he was talking to didn't humor him with an answer.

"You know the silent treatment is rude. Didn't your parents teach you to answer when someone asks you a question?"

Nothing.

The captor grunted. "We'll have to fix that later won't we?" His attention turned to Roy. "Now I know you don't remember how I got the two of you here, but I will tell you I was surprised you would risk your skin trying to save his. But I guess you hero types are the same."

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Yeah, there were a few people Roy would stick his neck out for without question, which is exactly what this guy made it sound like that was exactly what he did, but they were all for people he had well established relationships with. Relationships that most bad guys were aware of, and Roy himself should remember.

A strange hint, but it did narrow down the list of people with him down to a handful.

He patted Roy's face. "Shame. If there weren't a bounty on your heads, I could have some serious fun with the two of you."

Roy blinked. He had no idea what 'fun' consisted of and a gut feeling said he didn't want to. The bounty thing was an interesting point. They were captured for a reward, not a personal vendetta. That changed things. This guy was going to keep both of them alive.

His mind began to race. He needed to poke holes in this plan so he could get information and get out of this place.

"Why capture me?" Roy asked, "The bounty on my head can't be as big as this guy's."

Roy still had no idea who was behind him, his gut instinct was to assume he was more dangerous because of the use of metal chains in keeping him restrained.

"And why would you think that? Do you even know who he is?"

"Don't need to."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You know what's amusing. I know how much time you both have lost. I know for a fact you have no idea who's behind you."

"Rather confident of that fact, aren't you." A new voice joined the conversation.

It rang familiarity in Roy's head. A deep growl that sounded threatening and made Roy feel slightly on edge because, somehow, he knew that anger had been directed towards him a few times. As threatening as it felt, he also felt strangely relaxed. This guy was going to be on his side, at least for the time being.

"Oh, look who decided to find his voice. Yes I am. And I have every right to be."

"Details would be nice." Roy continued. "If you're gonna tell us these things, don't be cryptic about it. You're not Riddler."

The look he received was far from amused. "I can be cryptic if I so please." He stopped bringing his hand to his ear. "I'll be back."

He swiftly turned on his heels and disappeared back into the corridor.

There was few beats of silence before a faint click rang through the air. Roy heard chains fall to the ground, and then felt someone untying his restraints.

"You're helping me?" Roy asked him.

"Well apparently you helped me, and memory or no memory I'm not gonna leave you here for dead."

He made quick work of the restraints on his arms after which Roy pulled a knife from his boot and cut away at tape around his feet. The man read into what Roy was doing and went over to where his bow was. Once freed, he looked up to see who he'd been captured with and suddenly felt uneasy.

"I tried to save Red Hood?" Roy asked as he handed Roy his bow and quiver.

"Apparently." he replied blankly. "Now I can either leave you here to contemplate saving me, a criminal, or we can get out of here together. I'm good either way."

Roy notched an arrow. "Lead the way, because there's no way in hell I'm letting you follow me."

Hood cocked his head to the side. "I see my reputation precedes me. How comforting." He cocked his gun, flicking the safety off. "You gonna lecture me about kill shots like Batman and Nightwing love to do?"

"You know Nightwing?"

"Time and place Speedy. C'mon."

"It's Red Arrow, not Speedy." Roy grumbled.

"I know."

Hood crouched down in front of the door, fiddling with the lock before the door swung open.

He turned to Roy. "After you."

"No."

He shrugged before stepping out and immediately punched something. A guard.

"Let's hope I knocked him out before he told someone we escaped." Hood stooped down, pulling a set of keys off the guard. He then pulled the guard up and into the cell they'd been held in before shutting the door and locking it.

Roy took a couple of seconds to look Hood over. His suit was different from what Roy had seen in the news. Which could follow as he was unsure of the amount of time he'd lost between now and his most recent memory. One of which consisted of Red Robin saying something about having an idea that might get Wally out of the Speed Force.

"Do you know how much time we lost?" Roy asked him as they walked briskly through the compound looking for a way to escape.

"Not really concerned with that right now Speedy. We can figure that out when we're not here."

 _Take that as a no_.

After about thirty seconds alarms blared through the halls with flashing lights to match.

"Guess they know we're missing." Roy commented.

Hood began to look around. "This way."

He took off down the hall before jumping to the side into a stairwell. Roy struggled to keep up with him. He fired a grapple arrow towards the ceiling and pulled himself up to catch up. During his ride, he watched as Hood completely abandoned the stairs jumping up from the railing.

Once they reached the top the door leading out had a window that looked to the outside world.

Roy scoffed. "It can't be that easy."

Hood looked over the railing and dropped a small device down into the stairwell. It exploded into smoke. "Let's just hope it is." he rammed his shoulder into the door essentially breaking it down and tumbled into the grass

There was almost immediate gunfire as he dove back into the stairwell. Guards could be heard thundering up the stairs.

Hood cursed under his breath. "Any suggestions?"

"Oh you're gonna actually take me seriously?" Roy asked.

"Seriously Harper, time and place." he aimed his gun.

Roy's stomach dropped. "H-how do you know that?" He aimed his arrow at Hood. In the middle of the Red Bat splayed across his chest.

"Seriously? You wanna hash this out now? Look as soon as we're not behind enemy lines. I'll answer your questions. We don't have time right now."

He moved his arrow slightly to the left. It exploded sending the guards tumbling back down the stairs. "Don't make me regret trusting you."

Roy looked just far enough past the door to see the snipers, he notched another arrow and fired. Encasing them in a net, trapped together.

He and Hood sprinted across the open field to fence that seemed to surround the compound.

Hood grabbed the fence launching himself up and over the barb-wire around the top. He was about to keep on going when he turned to see Roy who didn't not possess that kind of agility. He was quick on his feet and decently flexible, but his acrobatic skills weren't the best. Something he'd been meaning to ask Nightwing for some help with, if anyone actually knew where he was.

He seemed to have a slight internal argument about leaving Roy, before he pulled out a knife and began to cut at the fence.

There was shouting behind them. The guards were getting close. Roy thought about pulling out his own knife to help the process along, but he didn't possess a knife that could cut through metal like the one Hood had.

One the hole was wide enough for a grown man to fit through, Roy climbed through as Hood twisted the fence shut behind him.

Jesus, how strong is this weirdo

"Let's get out of here." Hood told him.

The pair took off, disappearing into the woods

* * *

Jason's head felt like mush. Something that rarely happened, meaning he'd been under some serious drugs. He sat with his head hung low for a minute to assess the damage.

He didn't appear to be injured just sore, he had his helmet on (thankfully), but his suit was different. It was lighter and better quality from what he remembered wearing last.

 _Where am I? How did I get here?_

The moment he tried to remember what happened, it was like someone was plunging a knife directly into his brain.

A groan escaped his lips as he pulled against his metal restraints. He was chained to a chair with standard metal locks.

Jason internally scoffed, _amateurs._

Then he heard someone behind him. They seemed restless. Pulling against their own restraints before grunting as a sign of defeat.

He then continued to come up with his escape plan, pulling the lock pick in his glove. Something in him told him to keep quiet, that despite there not being a visible threat there was one very close.

The person behind him began moving again. It sounded like he was struggling to turn. Jason continued working on the lock that had almost literally been left in the palm of his hand. Suddenly they made a rather exasperated sound.

"Nice try, but we studied you long enough to figure out how to keep you in one place for a long time."

There was the threat Jason had felt. He glanced to his right while keeping his head perfectly still. He wasn't exactly impressive, there was a cocky smirk painted on to his face that Jason desperately wanted to punch off, like everything was going according to plan.

Jason began to question why it was so easy for him to escape if this guy had been 'studying' him for a while now. It felt suspicious. Nonetheless he continued to get out of these chains because trap or not. He'd been on a lead to find Dick and he'd been so close before he woke up here.

That's when it dawned on him. The memories coming back were slow, but he doesn't remember an ambush of any sort or any clear memory as to how he got here. There was likely a memory wipe involved. Something Jason thought he was basically immune to. Who had taken his memories? And why? For what purpose?

"I'm disappointed. I thought at least one of you would ask who I was or why I captured you or what's going on or where you are or even, hell, who the other person you're stuck with is." The man continued, shifting on his feet.

"Well since you offered it."

 _Roy?_

He'd been captured with Red freaking Arrow? What the hell?

As if this wasn't confusing enough, Roy was his partner in crime in all of this.

"Oh I didn't say I'd answer. I'm just surprised that this one individual isn't doing what I expected him to do." The man stepped forward, leaning down so he was basically talking in Jason's ear, "I mean you followed the beginning part of the script. Getting a silent read of the room, testing your bonds, and realizing that I was mere feet away before doing… what is this? Meditating? I'm assuming the answer is yes. Hope that's gonna get you out of here?"

Jason didn't answer.

"You know the silent treatment is rude. Didn't your parents teach you to answer when someone asks you a question?" the captor grunted at Jason's continued silence and stepped back, "We'll have to fix that later won't we?" he turned his attention to Roy, "Now I know you don't remember how I got the two of you here, but I will tell you I was surprised you would risk your skin trying to save his. But I guess you hero types are the same."

To be fair, Jason wasn't sure why Roy would try to help him either. As far as Roy knew, Jason was a criminal. A criminal who need to be caught and nothing more. Maybe something had changed during the amount of time he was missing, maybe he and Roy were friends now even though that felt unlikely. Roy really didn't like him before he died and Jason doubted much changed since then.

"Shame. If there weren't a bounty on your heads, I could have some serious fun with the two of you."

Jason creased his eyebrows. He really didn't what to find out exactly what 'fun' meant. The whole bounty on his head was an interesting detail this guy let slip. There were a lot of people out there who want Jason's blood, meaning he had no idea who exactly they might be being handed over to, but with Roy here it narrowed down the possible candidates to three.

"Why capture me?" Roy asked, "The bounty on my head can't be as big as this guy's."

Jason was amused at how Roy just assumed that.

"And why would you think that? Do you even know who he is?"

"Don't need to."

"You know what's amusing. I know how much time you both have lost. I know for a fact you have no idea who's behind you."

"Rather confident of that fact, aren't you." Jason told him.

"Oh, look who decided to find his voice. Yes I am. And I have every right to be."

"Details would be nice." Roy continued. "If you're gonna tell us these things, don't be cryptic about it. You're not Riddler."

Jason bit back a snort. The look Roy was likely receiving from this guy was probably far from impressed

"I can be cryptic if I so please." He stopped bringing his hand to his ear. "I'll be back."

He turned on his heel and left him and Roy alone.

 _What an idiot. Doesn't he realize he's got a bat in his midst?_ With that thought, the lock clicked open (finally) and he stood up pulling the chains from his person and then turned to free Roy and make their escape.

"You're helping me?" Roy asked him.

"Well apparently you helped me, and memory or no memory I'm not gonna leave you here for dead."

Once Jason had freed his arms Roy quickly pulled a knife (which was suspiciously still on him) out of his boot and freed his legs. Jason went over to where their weapons were. Where all of their weapons were. _Something was wrong. This was all too easy._

"I tried to save Red Hood?" Roy asked as him with a wooden expression as he handed Roy his bow and quiver.

"Apparently." Jason replied blankly. "Now I can either leave you here to contemplate saving me, a criminal, or we can get out of here together. I'm good either way."

Roy notched an arrow. "Lead the way, because there's no way in hell I'm letting you follow me."

Jason smirked as he loaded his gun. "I see my reputation precedes me. How comforting." He cocked it, flicking the safety off. "You gonna lecture me about kill shots like Batman and Nightwing love to do?"

"You know Nightwing?"

"Time and place Speedy. C'mon."

"It's Red Arrow, not Speedy." Roy grumbled.

"I know."

Jason crouched down in front of the door, fiddling with the lock before the door swung open.

He turned to Roy. "After you."

"No."

Jason shrugged before stepping out directly in front of a guard. Pure instinct took over and his fist flew directly into the guards face, knocking him out cold.

"Let's hope I knocked him out before he told someone we escaped." Jason stooped down, pulling a set of keys and a knife off the guard and damaging the radio before pulling him back into their escaped cell and trapping him inside.

"Do you know how much time we lost?" Roy asked him as they walked briskly through the compound looking for a way to escape.

Jason rolled his eyes. While he understood why Roy wanted to know how much had been removed from their memories, it still felt asinine to believe Jason knew anything about it.

"Not really concerned with that right now Speedy. We can figure that out when we're not here."

After about thirty seconds of them running through the halls alarms blared through the halls with red flashing lights to match.

"Guess they know we're missing." Roy stated.

Jason looked down a hallway and spotted what he believed to be the entrance to a stairwell "This way."

He took off down the hall before jumping to the side into a stairwell as Roy struggled to keep up with him. Jason heard a grapple grab hold of the ceiling above him as he made his way up, jumping from the railing.

Once they reached the top the door leading out had a window that looked to the outside world.

Roy scoffed. "It can't be that easy."

Jason glanced over the railing as guards began to make their way up the stairs. He dropped a smoke bomb as a means to hopefully disorient them "Let's just hope it is." he rammed his shoulder into the door.

The door crumbled under his force and weight sending him into the grass. As he regained his bearings two snipers on an adjacent roof noticed his attempt at an escape and began firing at him. While Jason was unsure if his new armor could truly protect him from bullets like his helmet could, the fact still remained that he wasn't bulletproof, and that was enough for him to take shelter back in the stairwell.

"Shit" They were complete trapped. "Any suggestions?" He asked Roy

"Oh you're gonna actually take me seriously?" Roy asked.

"Seriously Harper, time and place." he aimed his gun at the first spot where the guards would be visible.

Roy went white at the sound of his name. "H-how do you know that?" He aimed his arrow at Jason directly in the middle of his chest.

 _Damn it Roy now isn't the time to be concerned with your identity._

"Seriously? You wanna hash this out now? Look as soon as we're not behind enemy lines. I'll answer your questions. We don't have time right now." Jason growled, holding his ground. He refused to be threatened by an archer.

He moved his arrow slightly to the left. It exploded sending the guards tumbling back down the stairs. "Don't make me regret trusting you."

Roy glance just past the door and fired another arrow at the snipers before sprinting across the open field in front of them.

Jason grabbed the fence launching himself up and over the barb-wire around the top (something Dick had taught him forever ago, an ability that annoyed Bruce as he even struggled to achieve it). He was about to keep on going when he realized, Roy couldn't do that.

For two seconds Jason considered leaving Roy here to fend for himself. But something in him just couldn't do it. Jason quickly pulled his knife out and made a hole big enough for him to crawl through

Once Roy had joined him on the other side, Jason twisted the ends of as many of the rods as he could

"Let's get out of here." Hood told him.

* * *

They finally stopped running when Roy just about collapsed. He wasn't going to keep up with Jason's stamina.

He glanced around and then decided it was safe enough to take a quick rest.

"Sorry." he gasped, bracing against a tree "But I- I can't keep- can't keep going like that."

"No I know." Jason told him. "Sometimes I forget that not everyone can keep up with me and even fewer can do it for a long time."

Roy gave him a weird look.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing." He forced himself to stand. "C'mon we need to put more distance between us and them."

Jason raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. Roy was right but he needed more than those ten seconds. The last thing Jason wanted to do was carry his ass to safety.

After about five minutes Jason needed to stop the self-inflicted torture happening right in front of him. "Okay seriously. Take a minute. We can't afford you passing out right now. Because if you do, I am just gonna leave you."

Roy turned to look at him. "What would Nightwing say?"

Dick? Nothing, as no one's been able to find him for going on seven weeks. Something Roy obviously didn't know. Jason figured he should probably say something, but not here, they needed to get to safety first.

"How did you know who I was?" Roy asked him.

Jason felt like that was a stupid question, but then again, Red Arrow wasn't a well-known superhero. Yeah Roy was in the Justice League, but that meant he would be overshadowed by the founders and likely his former mentor Green Arrow. Most of the League wasn't aware of Jason's status to Batman (which is likely to have changed), so naturally Roy would be included in that.

Jason shrugged before gesturing to his chest. "Call it an occupational habit. I know who pretty much everyone who's involved with the League is. I make it my business to know."

"Sounds like something Batman has said." Roy mumbled under his breath.

Jason's fist tightened. It was something he'd said. It's also something Dick and Tim have said as well. If you worked with the Bat, especially as close as Robins tend to. You do make it your business to know who's who in the superhero community. The comparison still bothered him though.

There was a beat of silence.

"I'm assuming you have some sort of plan." Roy tells him

'Why would I have the plan?"

Roy pointed to his chest. "Like you said, that speaks volumes as to the kind of people you associate yourself with."

"Fair point. We need to figure out where we are. Then we can figure how much time has passed and who to contact and all that jazz."

Roy nodded.

Jason allotted for another couple of seconds. "You good?"

"Good enough."

They continued walking for what seemed like an eternity with almost no words being expressed between the two of them.

"Hey look." Roy pointed off into the dark sky. "Lights. And where there are lights, there's bound to be a city."

"God I hope so." Jason muttered.

Luckily for them Roy had been right.

"We need to change. We stick out." Jason told him

"We'd stick out less if you took that thing off your head."

"Yeah helmet or not. This is obviously armor and that is obviously a suped up bow."

"It's collapsible."

"And the quiver and your own armor?"

Roy rolled his eyes.

Jason glanced around. He could zip up the jacket and hide everything going on with his chest, most of his weapons could be discreetly hidden within the jacket, and it was dark enough the armor plating on his legs shouldn't draw too much attention if they stay away from crowds.

Roy on the other hand needed a place to store his quiver and a jacket to cover up the kevlar on his torso.

"Who uses a clothing line like that anymore?" Roy suddenly commented.

It caught Jason off guard. "What?"

Roy gestured up where someone had hung their clothes out to dry in the apartments a few floors above them. Miraculously, it was everything the needed.

"You know sometimes I think 'No way is there a god, because he wouldn't let so much crap happen to some really good people'," Jason begins, "and then shit like this happens that and it makes me question things."

Jason climbed up and got what they needed (but not before making sure they were compensated for the theft. He may be an anti-hero of sorts, but he doesn't just steal from innocent civilians).

He undid his gloves and thigh holsters sticking them within the secret compartments in his jacket. His hand went up to remove his helmet when a thought occurred to him. Roy obviously doesn't know who he is. It's possible he won't remember Jason enough from when he was younger to figure out this was him grown up, but sometimes Roy surprised people. Unfortunately he didn't have any other option, shedding the helmet and the mask.

Roy blinked at him.

"What?" Jason snapped.

"Nothing, just… you're younger than I thought."

"Well it's not like you have a lot of years behind you."

"Yeah well there's being in your late twenties and then there's being in your late teens."

Jason rolled his eyes before sticking his helmet in the bag he'd also stolen. "Stick your arrows in the bag and let's go."

* * *

 **Sooooooo... I wrote part of a sequel for Time to Live - Time to Die a while back, and I didn't like it. I didn't like how little time I could spend on it, there were a lot of things I wasn't liking about it so I scrapped it and just started from square one again. This is very different from my original idea (obviously) but the overall goals are going to be the same. I'll update when I can, and I will try to be regular but no promises. So I'll see you when I see you I guess.**


	2. Chapter 2

**All characters belong to their respective companies**

* * *

The mission had been a failure.

Tim had warned him about taking matters into his own hands and how that could get him into trouble, but no. Jason had to be stupidly independent for stupid reasons and get his own stupid ass captured by this new stupid shadow organization. Stupid.

Roy was supposed to have checked in by now, but the assumption had been made that he had gotten captured as well. Which made this whole situation worse. It made Tim want to pull his hair out. But that wasn't even the worst part about it.

Dick had benched him. Granted it was for reasons that Tim would bench someone, but it still pissed him off.

Tim may or may not have gone a week and a half on six hours of sleep which resulted in him getting a few slightly severe but completely avoidable injuries. So Dick had benched him for two weeks while he healed. He'd been benched from just about everything. Including comms. Which is what made this even more insulting.

It made him wonder if he'd been allowed to run comms that Jason either wouldn't have been captured or they would have found him by now.

Dick was confident that Jason would be fine, and Tim agreed. It'd only been two days and this was Jason they were talking about. Roy was little more concerning. Yeah he was probably okay too. It was more if they were captured any longer. Jason could hold out a whole hell of a lot longer than Roy or really anyone (all thanks to his pit enhanced stamina and what not.)

"You're doing it again." Barbara commented.

He looked over at her. "Doing what?"

"Well you've been sitting this table for almost two hours now, and you've been making the same face for about half an hour. So I can conclude your worrying again."

"Not really worrying, just thinking."

"For you they're one in the same."

Tim didn't say any sort of counter. She was right, sort of. When he got lost in thought it was usually him worrying about something. Be it a family member, a mission, whatever case he was working on.

"Something tells me Jason's already escaped, and he's just taking his sweet time getting back to us."

Tim gave a unenthusiastic laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"I believe you're mistaken. I'm always right." Her expression made the joke clear.

Tim snorted. "Hey Cass."

Cassandra gave a halfhearted wave as she entered the area of the cave where Tim and Barbara were seated.

"You find anything?" Barbara asked her.

She shook her head

"Well don't read too much into it," Tim reassured, "hopefully Dick will have something."

She sighed and shrugged before going to put away her gear.

Cassandra had been with them for a while now, almost a year and a half, proving herself worthy of joining their ranks rather early on. Tim liked her. The two of them had gotten along great. It was nice to have someone like her around to balance everyone out.

"Worrying again?" She asked Barbara upon her return gesturing towards Tim.

"Always."

"I'm not worrying."

Cass ran her fingers along his forehead "Those say otherwise."

"I'm twenty, I don't have stress lines."

"Could've fooled me."

"Shut up."

Barbara giggled (always weirded him out for some reason when she did that), before her eyes locked on to something behind him. "Hey look who's back."

Tim turned to see an exhausted Dick. "Whoa you look awful."

Dick gave him a blank look. "Thanks that's super helpful."

"You find anything?" Barbara asked him.

"Eh, not really. If they kept Jason in Gotham they know it better than we do."

"Highly unlikely." Tim muttered.

"Exactly so I don't think he's in Gotham."

"Where would they keep him if not in Gotham?" Barbara's tone suggested it was rhetorical but her mood suggested otherwise.

Dick shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea."

"I still can't wrap my head around the idea of why they would take Jason." Tim commented more to himself than the others around him.

"Yeah it's not like he's Batman's most trusted associate." Barbara continued his train of thought. "Pretty sure that title is split between you and Cass." She pointed between Dick and Cassandra.

"And while he does have a pretty specific skill set it's pretty much identical to Deathstroke's who will make those skills useful for anyone with the right price, something Jason will never do." Dick finished. "Not that it matters why they took him right now all that matters is that we find him, speaking of which has Bruce checked in?"

"Yeah, talked to him this morning. He and Damian say hi." Barbara answers

Tim blinked. "Damian says hi? Bruce is more likely to send us an obviously loving and friendly greeting than that gremlin."

"I'm assuming he said hi, which he probably did, in his own way."

"That seems more likely. Anyways, um, did you find Roy's last known location?" Dick asked Tim

He nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't too far outside of Central, which I find odd since Jason was taken in between Gotham and Bludhaven which is nowhere near Central City."

"Well then I'll contact Wally and see if he's seen anything."

"How about you get some rest and I'll contact Wally." Barbara offered.

"We don't have time for that right now."

"Oh but you'll bench Tim for the same reason."

Dick gave her another blank look. "Alright mother."

He stood up and made his way upstairs.

Tim looked at Barbara. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. Sometimes he can get just as bad as you."

Tim nodded. "Hey Cass why don't you get some rest too."

"Don't need it. Slept all day." She told him, her face completely deadpanned.

"Yeah I say things like that and I still get told to rest. I don't care if you sleep but eat something, or take a shower, or relax and unwind for a while. Whatever floats your boat."

"Or we could play a game." She handed him a deck of cards and Tim almost immediately understood what she was getting at.

"You want me to teach you poker?"

She nodded

"You'd probably be good at it. Your poker face is the best out of all of us."

* * *

Just as he suspected she was annoyingly good at poker. Her ability of reading people like a freaking book made it almost impossible to win with her. When Jason got back he was gonna have so much fun putting them against each other.

Now there was focus and strategy. Tim felt he'd gotten pretty good at removing any and every emotion on command, trying to maintain unreadable body language.

"You miss Jason?" Her voice was shaky and very quiet as it always was when she spoke, but the caution in her question wasn't missed by Tim.

He was taken back by the suddenness of the question. He shrugged. "Yeah, do you?"

She shrugged "Trust is hard."

Tim knew that. It wasn't that she and Jason disliked each other and didn't have a mutual respect. He assumed it was really jealousy that prevented Jason from getting to know Cass.

"I hope we find him." She told him after a moment.

"Yeah me to. Mostly because I want you to wipe the floor with him at poker. The only other person who can really beat him is Dick, and that's only because Dick has an incredible poker face."

She smiled and nodded in agreement. "Sometimes he is hard to read. Sometimes you are hard to read."

Tim smiled "Is Jason ever hard to read?"

She shook her head. "He is emotional."

Tim couldn't help it, he started laughing. The kind of laugh that starts small and controlled than got stronger the more you thought about what made you laugh. It ended with him almost doubling over.

She wasn't wrong, and Tim wasn't about to say she was. Everyone always looked at Dick and though he was the one who wore his heart on his sleeve and was the emotionally invested one out of the brood. It was always a closed off personality with a side of anger issues when anyone thought of Jason.

It was a rare thing when someone could actually see what was on Dick's mind, when there wasn't some sort of carefully crafted façade to hide behind. Tim doesn't think there has ever been a time where Dick has been truly open with someone. Jason was quite literally the opposite. He said exactly what was on his mind and very loudly told people exactly what he was feeling and really didn't have issues being open and honest with people he knew cared about him. Tim felt it was kind of strange that he ended up being one of those people.

Just as quickly as the silence had ended it began once again.

Cass laid her cards down in front of her, a cocky smirk prominent on her face. "Full house."

Tim sighed almost throwing his cards down in fake anger. "I shouldn't have taught you, I've created an unbeatable weapon."

Her smiled faltered slightly at Tim's words, which he quickly noticed and backtracked.

"I mean, um, I've taught you to well in the art of strategy."

Her mood didn't shift back, making him feel guilty.

"You know what I meant right? You're not a weapon. You're my… sister. My incredibly awesome and talented sister that I am slightly jealous of because you're amazing at almost everything you try. Something I'm super proud of."

She blushed slightly at the praise.

Tim began to gather up the deck and shuffle the cards. "You wanna go again or would you…"

He was cut off by the computer.

"What was that?" Confusion painted on her face.

"Some sort of transmission."

Tim stood up and made his way over to the computer. He didn't recognize the transmission. This might be an issue.

He turned to Cass. "Go get Dick."

She nodded, making a beeline for the stairwell. As Tim began to investigate the message further Barbara appeared by his side.

"What's going on?" She asked him

"I don't know, give me a second." He began typing away trying to find the source of the transmission. "Did you get a hold of Wally?"

"Yeah, said he hadn't seen anything. Also asked if he should stop by. I told him yes as Dick could probably stand the company and we might need the back-up."

Tim nodded in agreement as his focus became completely devoted to figuring out the origin of the strange transmission.

"Cass said something about a message." Dick told him.

Despite looking very much like he'd just rolled out of bed and would much rather be sleeping. His demeanor and the tone told Tim he was alert and was ready to handle whatever the situation might require.

"Yeah a transmission from a standard i.p. address in California."

"Well at least that's not a vague location."

"I can't even read what it says. I don't even know how this was sent to us, the only way they could is if they're an incredible hacker beyond our combined skills or they know the codes and backdoors we put in place."

"It could be Jason. He knows them."

"Yeah maybe, but not all of them. You have to know all of them for this to just appear here."

"Get a more specific location."

"What do you think I'm trying to do." Tim sighed. "All I can find is northern California. Another minute or two and I might be able to nail an actual city."

Tim watched as Dick seemed to formulate a plan on the spot. "You and Cass head off in that direction. See if you can find the origin of this message."

"I thought I was benched?"

"You want me to keep you benched?"

"Nope." Tim gestured to Cass. "C'mon, let's go."

Tim was glad to be going on a mission with Cass. She was always good in a pinch, keeping her head on her shoulders when things got difficult. It had also been a while since the two of them had done any sort of mission together just the two of them.

Quickly packing the essentials and taking a Zeta Tube out to hopefully close to wherever this transmission was coming from.

It deposited them in a small town near Coast City. He rolled up his sleeve and went through the holocomupter. His systems had found the origin within minutes.

"Well it looks like we got lucky. The transmission came from here." Tim told her.

She raised an eyebrow at him gesturing at their general surroundings.

"Ha ha, not literally here, but in this general area. How about we split up. You head south about five or six blocks and see what you can find I'll head north and do the same, and meet back here."

She sarcastically saluted him before disappearing into the growing shadows.

Tim stuck his hands in the pouch on his sweat shirt, and walked in step behind a group of rowdy college aged students (probably bar hoping). It was a rather populated area considering the zeta tube the League had placed here. Maybe that was the idea, hiding in plain sight, but it was really close to the coast.

They didn't really seem to notice him walking about three steps behind them for a block or so, as he drank in as many details as he could about this place. Tim began to feel a since of unease creep onto him. Something was wrong. He was being followed, or watched.

He gripped the Bo staff in his pocket, it gave him some slight security in knowing that it was there. He needed to find Cass. Splitting up abruptly became a bad idea.

Tim turned on his heels, briskly walking in the direction he'd told Cass to go in. Unfortunately this was Cass. She wasn't just going to stick out and be easy to find.

He tapped his comm.

"Red Robin to Black Bat." He murmured, trying to continue to pass by unseen

Static.

"Shit." He began to become slightly more obvious in looking for his sister.

Tim didn't want to start calling her name or anything, but his options for finding her were severely depleted. He saw someone in his peripheral. He was being followed. He needed to disappear. But Tim wasn't Cass. This area provided little cover for hiding. The only thing one could do is hide in plain sight and obviously that wasn't going to work.

He side stepped onto the pavilion of a restaurant trying to appear like he was entering, and hoping the pursuer missed him. He slipped behind the shrubbery on the pavilion and into a dark alley.

Just as Tim was going to take the roof tops he realized he'd gotten himself stuck in an ambush.

"Where you goin', Pretty bird?" The accent along with the nickname caused Tim to internally shudder.

"I don't want any trouble." He kept his confidence high refusing to let his unease show, that gave the bad guys the advantage.

"And you won't get any if you cooperate."

Tim pulled the collapsible Bo staff. "I feel I should warn you I'm not the cooperative sort." He begun a defensive stance. His odds weren't good here. The space was narrow and they outnumbered and out sized him. He needed to go up, and keep the fight on his terms.

"Funny, Hood said the same thing."

 _Jason_. "What'd you do with him." Tim tried his best bat growl. Jason probably would've laughed at the sound. Tim, unfortunately, wasn't the most intimidating soul without his suit. He tried to keep eye contact and make them feel uneasy with his hard stare. That was something he could do.

"Defensive of the criminal aren't you? Why do you care?"

"That's my business. Who needs to know anyways?"

The man smirked. "You know."

Tim just barely kept the confused look from sweeping across his face. He had no idea who they worked for, thus the question.

The man seemed to read into it anyway. "You really don't know do you."  
Tim didn't give any sort of response. This was his window of opportunity.

"Doesn't matter. Boss won't care. Just said to bring you and Hood." He begun to close in, but he hadn't anticipated Tim's response time.

His Bo-staff sprung to full length, he swung out knocking the man off his feet as Tim vaulted upward grabbing the fire escape and hauling himself upward towards the roof. He didn't waste any time looking back to see if they were pursuing him. He needed to find Cass, and he needed to find her now.

* * *

Hood made Roy feel uneasy. Everything about him caused strange flags to raise in his brain. Only he couldn't pinpoint the reason. He was far younger than any sort of crime lord he'd met before. Hood could barely be breaking twenty, and yet Gotham knew him as a menace most well-known for targeting Batman. Like a complete idiot.

They crept down dark alleyways, trying to stray as far as possible from anything with lots of people. Hood was a natural observer. Roy admired that. Observation led to one knowing far more about their targets than one who went into things headstrong (i.e. his original counterpart).

Roy wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for, but he was going to trust that Red Bat he wore so proudly (for some reason despite having clear animosity towards the vigilante it represented) and hope he knew exactly what he was doing.

Finally he'd reached his limit on patients. "Where exactly are we going?"

Hood stopped and looked at him. "To be honest I am not entirely sure."

"Well then, we need to stop and make a plan."

Hood seemed defeated. "I know. I just have a weird feeling about who captured us."

The more Roy thought about it, the more he agreed. There was something off about the capture. It had been too easy for them to get out of there.

"You think they might be tracking us." Roy realized.

"It's a possibility. I don't want to even their odds by contacting anyone for them to capture and take their memories as well."

It seemed to make since. It's possible they just let the two of them go to see what they would do once they escaped. Contact the League or one of Hood's shadier associates, double back and attack, figure out how to get out of the situation themselves.

He still couldn't figure out who would take them or what purpose they would have with a Red Hood and Red Arrow combination.

"We've been in one place for too long." Hood decided. "We need to get somewhere safe."

"Like where? For all we know, a tracer could've been implanted in us. I know and get why you're hesitant but… I think we need to call in reinforcements."

"I already tried. First thing I did. My radio's been damaged. I'd have to go a longer and risker route to get in contact with anyone trustworthy."

"What about sketchy?"

Hood raised an eyebrow. "You might want to elaborate Speedy."

"Would it be easier for you to get ahold of a sketchier associate?"

He shrugged. "Depends on who I contact. And why are you assuming I know more."

"First, I'll let you think about that question before I answer it; second, we need to know how much time we lost. Now I don't know about you, but I can't remember a date to save my life right now so grabbing a newspaper isn't going to help me too much."

"Can you remember any details about what was going on. The less personal the better. We need to be able to find it on the internet."

Roy thought for a moment. Everything was fuzzy excluding a few details. Red Robin offhandedly telling him that there was an idea to get Wally out of the Speed Force and that it might actually work. But Roy could guarantee that wouldn't make any sort of headline that they could find within a short amount of time.

"Just a theory to get a friend home." Roy told him simply.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Kid Flash?"

Roy nodded. "How'd you know."

Hood gave him an unimpressed look. "Now I'll give you a minute. I wonder if it was successful."

"Why? How do you know if they've even gone through with the plan?"

"I obviously don't, but context clues can tell me it's been at least a few months judging by the suit and my general surroundings. But if they had, can you remember a way to get a hold of him?"

"I thought you didn't put anyone else at risk."

Hood honestly seemed defeated. Roy couldn't blame him. There really wasn't a good option. At least Kid Flash could get here the quickest if the plan had been successful.

"Okay. I have an idea but we'll have to be quick and we won't be able to hide out nearby."

"Fine. What's your idea."

"Internet Café."

"Seriously?"

"You got a better idea?"

Hood rolled his eyes. "I guess I could take advantage and try to get a secure message out to Red. He should still be in Gotham."

"I didn't think you were on speaking terms with any of them."

"You don't know me Speedy."

Roy really wished Hood would quit calling him that.

"Do we have any idea where we are?" Roy asked him after a few beats.

"Coast City."

Roy blinked. "How'd you come up with that one?"

Hood gestured to a sign adjacent to them. Out of Roy's view from where he was standing but not Hood's.

"Well look on the bright side. If things get dicey, we can call Green Lantern." Hood smirked at his own dry humor.

"Yeah he'll take that _real_ well. Untrusted member of the League and a well know and dangerous crime lord."

"Are you even still a member of the League?"

Roy really wanted to hit something, preferably Hood's face.

As they searched Roy could feel Hood's mood shift. He was suspicious of something. His steps became a hair too precise as was how he was looking around at things, like he was trying to avoid looking at everything while scanning the whole area all at the same time.

"What?" Roy asked, feeding off of him.

"I have a bad feeling." Was the only answer he received.

 _Well thank God you're not giving vague answers._ "Uh, details."

"Head down, don't look obvious. We're being followed." He hissed at Roy.

Hood stopped dead in his tracks.

Roy looked around. "We need to move."

Hood maintained eye contact with an individual a good thirty yards from them. It was the first guy they'd seen when they'd been initially captured. His smirk only grew when he saw both Roy and Hood saw him.

He held what looked like a riot stick in his left hand, the other one casually in his pocket. He was getting sideways glances from bystanders but nothing more. He began to step towards them.

Hood grabbed Roy's arm and pulled them out of the open.

"This was planned." He growled not bothering to hide his frustration. "All of it. They wanted us to escape, they knew we'd come here and contact someone."

"We haven't contacted anyone yet. So their plan failed."

Hood didn't seem convinced.

"I wouldn't say that."

Roy groaned. "Can't we have like five minutes to come up with some sort of game plan? Please?"

"While normally I reward politeness like that. I have more pressing matters. Your escape was ahead of schedule, but served its purpose nonetheless. So thank you."

"Thank you?!" Hood anger was calculated, like a predator when you corner it. Someone was about to be attacked, and it would be a blood bath.

"Now now, calm down Red. We wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

"The only thing that's going to happen is your face getting real familiar with the outside of my helmet. Repeatedly"

"Ooh, how genuine. I am actually slightly frightened because I know, if given the chance, you will make sure that happens."

Roy pulled a knife from his belt.

"Alright, there's no need to make a mess. C'mon, the League still has need of you."

"I doubt the League approved of something like this." Roy told him, blankly.

"Not the Justice League you dolt. Someone else. Someone old and yet new all at the same time."

Roy creased his eyebrows for half a second. "What?"

The look Roy received was the end of the explanation.

It came out of nowhere, or more accurately, she came out of nowhere. A girl, probably around seventeen and dressed completely in black, jumped out of the shadows sending the man flying back.

Both Roy and Hood took a few steps back, more out of surprise than fear. A gun cocked next to him. Hood was obviously not taking any chances with this girl.

Her breath was deep and even as she pressed the knife against his throat.

The man began to laugh. "I was wondering what happened to you. Decided to cleanse your soul and join the _righteous_ fight. You'll always be the assassin your father trained you to be."

If he was trying to strike a nerve it didn't seem to work. Her expression didn't waver.

"Leave." She told him simply.

"David Cain would be disappointed in what you've let yourself become. You are a disappointment."

She leaned in. "Afraid. You are afraid."

His expression changed. "Not of you."

"Leave." Her voice went into a dark whisper.

His face went white. "You know what will happen if I do."

She smirked. "We are ready."

The girl let go of him stepping back, and pointed out at the street.

He glanced at it, before heading towards it. "I am merciful compared to what's coming. You should've cooperated."

With that wonderfully strange comment he left without another thought.

Hood aimed at the young girl.

"Whoa what are you doing?" Roy asked. "She helped us."

"Yeah, but she's David Cain's daughter so, forgive me, but I'm gonna need a little more than that."

Her face was painted with confusion. Her hands were up in surrender.

"And David Cain is?"

"A dangerous member of the League of Shadows. The same people that guy likely worked for. He's right up there with Ra's al Ghul."

She took a half a step towards them.

"You move another inch and I fire."

She hesitated before gesturing to herself. "Cass."

"Don't care."

Her eyebrows creased. "Cass, your sister."

Hood shook his head. "Yeah, no. I've got a few brothers but no sister."

She took another step. "Jason."

Hood's stance dropped slightly.

"Did she just call you Jason?" Roy asked him. "Because the only Jason I ever knew died a long time ago."

Another dark figure dropped in between Cass and Hood.

He placed his hand on the barrel of the gun. "Jason what are you doing?"

That made him drop the gun completely. "Tim?"

"Duh. Why are you pointing a gun at her. Or better yet where the hell have you been."

That seemed like a good question to answer, but Roy had a better one. "Back up. Both of them have called you Jason now."

Tim sent a confused look towards Roy. "Yeah, strange. People call each other by their first name."

"Yeah, last I checked _Jason_ was killed by the Joker."

Now Tim looked genuinely confused. He glanced back at Cass and then down at the gun in Hood's hand and then back up at Hood's face. "What the last thing you remember? Either one of you."

"I had a lead on locating Nightwing."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Okay that was three years ago."

Roy stomach dropped. "I'm sorry, three what now?"

"That's why you didn't know Cass, and why he didn't know you were alive."

"Yeah how is he alive?"

Tim shook his head. "Later."

"Why are you here?" (Jason apparently) asked him.

"We received a transmission. I'm hoping you're the one who sent it."

Jason shook his head. "I was going to."

"Then there's a hacker. This could be bad."

"Could be?"

"We need to get back to the cave. My comm is jammed here." Tim turned to look at Cass. "You got a signal?"

She shook her head.

"Well my radio is damaged."

"It's not that big of a deal as long as the Zeta Tubes still work. C'mon let's get out of here just in case those guys change their minds and decide to come back."

"They won't." Cass told them.

"Yeah, how exactly do you know that."

Tim began to act as a barrier between Jason and Cass. "We need to get safe. And then you can begin your pointless interrogation. 'Kay?"

Jason grumbled what could be interpreted as an agreement of sorts.

* * *

 **(Loving all the feedback from y'all. I'm enjoying involving Cass, easily one of the coolest characters DC has to offer and, because she will unfortunately not be making an appearance in Young Justice (at least not yet), the one I can take a few more creative liberties with. I will be as canon as possible, but do expect a few changes to her character. Nothing to ruin her obviously. Whelp, I'll get off my soap box now.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**All characters belong to their respective companies**

* * *

Jason was getting a little annoyed now. He'd escaped with Roy, Tim and some mystery girl had found them, and they were going to head back to Gotham and figure out exactly what the hell was going on. But no. Instead of going home, he's waking up in this bared cell with his head feeling the exact same way it had when he first woke up from being captured.

The restraints were different. Almost non-existent. It felt like an old jail cell, with the rusty bars covering the entrance to keep him from leaving, the smell of mildew and rotting wood, the old cinder block that made up the other three wall, and the general darkness the room offered him.

A general assessment of himself told him they weren't stupid enough to leave him with any weapons this time. They also didn't leave him with much to work with. The cell was completely bare. There weren't any noteworthy injuries other than his pounding head and his general anger towards the fact that once again he had no idea how he'd been bested and captured two days in a row (at least he assumed it'd only been two days).

He approached the bars. They took his gloves, leaving him to run his bare fingertips across the metal. Nothing, no electric shock, nothing. It even felt like the old iron people would use to make these sort of jail cells centuries ago.

This wasn't good. Whoever was doing this needed him for something. He didn't like the implications of that.

His head thunked against the metal bars as he groaned in annoyance.

"Something on your mind Hood?"

Jason jumped back. It was that same guy, just walking out of the shadows like he was Batman or something.

"Uh you know appearing out of shadows is kind of Batman's thing. I'm pretty sure he's got it copyrighted too."

He wasn't amused.

"You got a name or something?"

"Not one you need to know."

"Are you sure, because then I'm gonna be forced to call you Joe or Bob or some other generic white male name."

He raised an eyebrow but offered no further details.

"Alright then _Bob_ , I thought that one chick scared you off. So what are you doing here with me?"

Bob shrugged. "Maybe I just find you interesting."

Jason blinked as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, I'm not that interesting."

Another shrug. "It's a matter of opinion."

"Does Ra's want to talk to me. I'm up for a conversation with the old fart. So could you let him know there was no need for all of this drama," Jason gestured to the cell, "and that he could've just asked like a regular person."

Bob sneered. "I don't work for Shadows."

"Nah, but something equally cryptic right. 'Someone old and yet new all at the same time'. Speaking of which, could you tell me what the hell that even means?"

"I don't have to cater to your needs."

"Instead you'll stand just out of reach on the other side of these bars and force feed me riddles. Thank god you're not Riddler. At least your riddles challenge me."

"I have confidence that you can figure it out."

"Look, I'm gonna level with you. The whole detective thing is kind of Red's shtick. I'm more of the punch you 'till you talk type. So maybe take the riddle to Red, see what he comes up with and report back to me."

"Do you know why we took the last three years from your mind?"

 _Talk about whiplash._ "No, you failed to include me in the reasoning."

"We wanted to see how you would react to the idea that your brother was still imprisoned by what you so lovingly refer to as ' _Psychotic Zombie Assassins_ ' and that there wasn't any way to get to him."

Jason remembers Tim telling him something about that, but the details were fuzzy.

"Yeah, well, Nightwing isn't there anymore. He's… Somewhere else. Safe."

Bob raised an eyebrow. "And you believe that?"

Jason gripped the bars, his voicing dropping into a low growl. "Wanna give me a reason why I shouldn't?"

"The Court isn't gone and their purpose is yet to be fully served. They believed they were being indoctrinated into the Light, but there was so much more to it. Your brother would've just… sped the process along."

"How so?"

"Indestructible and highly formidable assassin. I'll let you do the math. Your brother is far from defenseless. Even the Court knows not to go up against him without backup."

"He's gonna find us."

"And oh am I counting on it."

Jason didn't like that statement. He stepped back from the bars.

Bob began to walk away, a smile etched on his face. "And there's nothing you can do to help him."

* * *

Dick was five seconds away from slamming his head onto the desk and calling it a night. His frustration really wasn't aimed at anything in particular anymore. He had confidence Tim could handle himself, and even if he couldn't Cassandra could handle the both of them and would call for backup. It was simply a waiting game for that particular mission.

The same thing could be said for Damian and Bruce. Shadows was on the brink of collapse and had been that way for some time now. They'd just gone out there to make sure that was the case and they weren't faking it for something far more sinister. Another waiting game.

He was tired of it. Just sitting back and waiting for answers. His more recent investigations had been dead ends as well. Dick believed Jason was okay and could wait it out until someone found him or he escaped.

He leaned back in the chair and sighed.

Barbara glanced over at him. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. It's the same thing it always is."

"No it's not. You and Tim are really similar. You're allowed to be worried."

"I'm not worried."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not it's not that. It's just everything. I'm frustrated."

"You've done nothing but detective work for the last three days. Go out on patrol, it'll help you feel more productive so when you get back to it, you won't feel like you aren't getting anywhere."

"I'm not."

She gave him a sad smile. "You will. Take a break. Accomplish something, it really will help."

"Geez, you sound like Alfred."

"I'll take that as a complement because Alfred is awesome."

"Damn right he is." He replied under his breath.

He stood up to leave.

"If there is anything else…" Her smile was warm and inviting. Dick tried to make sure he was near impossible to read, but she never seemed to have trouble with it.

He walked over to her. Kissing her lightly. "There isn't." He whispered.

She sighed. "Sure. Sure there isn't."

"Nothing you need to worry about. I put it all on the table."

"I've known you too long Dick. Like Bruce and Jason and Tim and even Damian you've been taught to never put everything on the table."

"Always play close to the chest."

She nodded. "I thought we established you didn't need to do that with me."

He took her hand, running his thumb across her knuckled. "Some habits are hard to break."

"So. Care to share?"

He sucked in a breath. "Just nightmares being a bit more vivid lately."

"Vivid?"

"It happens occasionally, not the first time and certainly not the last. Happens when I'm stressed and I have plenty to be stressed about right now."

She nodded. "Okay. Be safe."

"Always."

She pulled him back down for another light kiss before letting him go beat up some low level thugs.

He wasn't exactly sure when they started dating. It just kind of happened. They've kept it to themselves. Though he was pretty sure all his brothers knew what was up, they'd surprisingly let it be. Probably waiting for the right opportunity to use it against him.

He perched himself in his usual spot in the Narrows. It felt good to be high up with the brisk wind in his face to help keep him on his toes. He took a second to look around. He went to this area a lot. It's where he went when he retreated from the Manor after one his and Bruce's countless fights, where he'd mourned Jason for a short time before moving out of the Manor completely, where he'd go to be alone.

Dick hadn't been sure why he'd been so drawn to the place until a few years ago. After the incident. The Court had an old base here, near the group home he'd been sent to for a few weeks. Near where Hally's circus would set up shop whenever they came to Gotham. It'd taken Dick a while to figure out all the connections.

It bothered him how much the Court had actually been involved in his life and how much they'd actually manipulated to get him to the current point in his life.

The Narrows was strangely calm. People leaving bars and heading home. Nothing noteworthy happening. Sure there were a few rather drunk men getting a little too handsy with a couple of ladies but they handled themselves just fine with a couple well placed slaps and a pepper spray threat.

"Gray Son." Something whispered behind him.

The sound sent chills up his spine as he whipped around to catch the source. Nothing.

Something was wrong.

It whispered again.

Dick slid down the roof, jumping off onto an adjacent building, his escrima sticks at the ready. He scanned the area.

"Gray Son." Something ghosted against his skin.

He jumped away as he took a blind swipe. His breathing became heavy.

It hadn't made a noise, but he'd known it had been there nonetheless. Dick moved quickly. His arm shot out as his escrima stick sent electricity crackling through the air and leaving it lethally close to the individual's neck.

"Talon." He breathed.

Talon bowed his head slightly. "Gray Son of Gotham."

Dick scowled. "It's Nightwing."

He smirked. "My apologies, _Nightwing_."

"Why are you here?"

"The Court hasn't sentences you to die. Yet."

"So you're just here out of curiosity?"

"No. You are searching for something. I am offering my assistance."

Dick scowled. "Not interested."

"Nothing happens without an owl seeing it. We can be of use."

"Again, not interested."

"You still hear our brothers. That's how you knew I was here. It frightens you."

"Our _brothers_ ," he spat the word, "are gone like the rest of the Court. You should give up while you still can."

"You knew we were still alive."

"I'm not stupid Carver. You dropped the bomb and ran. It's not what they saw, but I saw it. I'm assuming they iced you. I mean after all you didn't apprehend me so you're a failure and we both know how the Court feels about that."

"Don't speak to me as if you understand."

"Oh look who's finding his since of individuality. I didn't think Talons had such a thing."

"The Court will regain what it had lost. I prefer a worthy opponent."

"The thrill of the chase."

"You are mine to take, and mine alone."

"Yeah you'll have to get in line."

"Take heed of my warning Gray Son. Talon will not tolerate your death from Assassins."

"What, what assassins?"

"You do not know the Assassins?"

"Obviously not. Who are you talking about?"

"I suppose it is not surprising. They are a new piece in this game of chess, but formidable nonetheless."

"Get out of here Carver. Before you end up with the same fate as Rose."

"He is not gone."

"But he might as well be."

"This brother you seek, he is with these Assassins."

Dick gave him a confused look. "You're just offering up free information?"

"On the contrary."

"Sure feels like it. What's to stop me from leaving you in the dust and using that oh so helpful hint?"

"Me. I would stop you."

"Right."

Talon's posture changed.

Dick rolled his eyes. "Fine, what's the price?"

"You will return to the Court with me…"

"No."

"Not now. But you will need to. The Gray Son can find his way back to where he belongs. He is still with you and he is desperate to get out and join _his_ brothers, _our_ brothers." Talon handed Dick a small dagger. "You will not be enough to save _your_ brothers."

"Brother. Singular not plural."

"I know what I said."

Dick glanced down at the golden dagger. Just like the one he'd been locked in the cell with, like the one he'd used to…

When Dick looked up, Talon was gone.

He gripped the knife, ready to throw it as hard and as far as he physically could. But something stopped him. _Brothers._

It dawned on him. "Tim." He whispered.

* * *

Tim was trying to decide if his current situation warranted a temper tantrum. He felt being trapped in what was essentially a clique medieval cell, that one might find in fairy tales, with absolutely no idea as to how he'd gotten there might qualify. Might. He'd gone into a deep meditation to try and regain his memories. He really didn't think it was going to work, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

He was also worried about Cass. Tim didn't know what'd happened to her, or Jason, or Roy. It felt correct to assume they'd been captured just like him.

The sound of a heavy metal door opening filled the room. Tim wasn't going to bother acknowledging their presence keeping his head down and his eyes closed. He tracked the footsteps to directly in front of his cell. Three people.

"Hello Timothy."

His eyes shot open as his whole being stiffened. Slowly he looked up at Ra's al Ghul.

"You looked surprised." Ra's told him sounding bored.

"That's one word for it."

Behind Ra's the other two guards filled out of site, and closed the door behind them.

"What am I doing here?" Tim asked him.

Ra's sighed. "I am in need of your help."

Tim barked out a laugh. "Why on God's green Earth would I ever even consider helping you?"

Ra's pulled a cell phone like device from a pocket in his robes and faced the screen towards Tim.

He slowly stood and approached the bars to see Cass in a padded cell, restrained similarly to the way a mental patient would be.

"Cass." He breathed as he wrapped his hands around the bars.

"Oh that's not all."

He swiped the screen to reveal a pacing Jason. He stocked his cell like a caged animal.

Ra's put the phone back into the pocket and waited for Tim to wrap his head around the situation.

"What do you need?" Tim asked him slowly, the words tasting sour in his mouth.

Ra's smiled slightly at his triumph. "I'm sure you are well aware Shadows will soon cease to exist."

"I can't help with that."

"I'm not asking you to. Shadows is still a very large organization. If left unchecked the consequences could be catastrophic."

"So what do you need from me?"

"A few years ago you memorized my entire database within a few hours."

"Yeah so?"

"You proceeded to use that information to strike a very significant and, I will admit, a very fatal blow to Shadows."

"Oh so this is all because of me."

"The collapse is mostly your doing yes. You know most if not all of my assets. You once pulled your company from financial ruin and have kept it far from returning to that situation thus far. I need your skillset to create a firm and steady base for something… new."

"You're recreating Shadows." Tim realized. "Why?"

"I am a valuable member of the Light and since the Reach incident it has come to my attention that a fresh start was needed."

"So all of this. The Court capturing Dick, Shadows just falling apart at the seams, almost all your allies just vanishing off the map, it's just small pieces in the grand scheme of things."

"I've never been given a reason to question your intelligence and you have yet to give me one."

"Thank god. So let's assume I help you what am I getting out of it? Because you know I'm not going to cooperate without a price."

Ra's raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was perfectly clear. Your help is the price for their release."

"Just like that?"

"Well no. If you refuse I will find David Cain and return his daughter to him, and as for Mr. Todd… well I suppose I'll have to get creative with that one now won't I?"

"Where's Roy?"

"Who cares?"

"I do. If he dies, or if anything happens to him, it's on me. So where is he."

"He's alive. But I knew he wouldn't give you the proper push that you needed."

Tim scoffed as he took a few steps back. "You really think you'll be successful?"

Ra's seemed to visually weigh his options. "Why yes. Yes I do."

"You won't." Tim told him. His voice barely above a whisper.

"And why won't I."

"We've beaten you before. Several times. Each time it's the same reason. You underestimate your enemy. It's going to be your undoing. You haven't you made an enemy of the Team. You've made an enemy of Me. And Nightwing, and Red Hood, and Batman, and hell even Deathstroke has abandoned you. You know he's going to come after you at some point. So will Robin. So I'll ask you again. What makes you think you'll be successful given your history?"

He studied Tim for a moment before an unsettling smile crept up onto his face.

"What?" Tim asked, barely keeping out how the smile pushed him off guard.

Ra's shook his head. "Nothing. I just knew I picked the right one."

"For what?"

"It's irrelevant. I'll give you some time to go over your options. Do think about them."

Ra's walked out.

' _I just knew I picked the right one_ '

Who was he talking about. Was he talking about Tim, or Damian, or Cass. It felt like Ra's was taking about Tim. And for what. Whoever he picked was doing a real good job of playing right into Ra's plan.

* * *

She said her name was Cass back in the alley. Now sitting across from her padded cell she didn't seem to remember Roy at all.

"Don't you know who I am?" He asked her again.

She continued to press herself as deep as she physically could in that dark corner, and seemed to be doing her best at ignoring Roy.

He rested his forehead against the glass that separated them.

"We need a plan. I need you to trust me."

She didn't respond. She didn't even move. Her eyes remained locked on the door waiting, no challenging, for someone to dare to walk through. They'd put her in a strait jacket and held her in a cell that reminded him of Arkham. She didn't seem unstable, or afraid, or anything really. Roy couldn't get a read on her. And he'd been trying, god had he been trying.

Roy had been trying for the last several hours to form some sort of communication with her. She refused to even look in his direction.

This was different from his first capture. That time he'd been left with his weapons and a since of confidence. Now they'd thoroughly stripped him of anything useful and kept him locked up with this girl. This wasn't Jason who he'd found an instant middle ground with and someone who was willing to cooperate if it meant escape.

Roy wondered what happened to Jason and to Tim.

"Okay fine. You know Jason, how is he alive? We can talk to each other and I know you can hear me. Humor me, c'mon something. Anything." He felt a little silly pleading with this young girl to talk to him and give him some sort of companionship.

Or really he felt frustrated that the only possible source of information was busy giving him what he felt was an unwarranted silent treatment.

He sighed as he turned his back to rest against the glass barrier.

"Alright fine, I'll go first. You wanna hear about when I first met Nightwing?"

If she did she didn't tell him.

"Well you're gonna whether you want to or not. We, um, got paired on a recon mission. I was really excited because he was the only sidekick I hadn't worked with and he was kind of legend, and you can't tell him this but he was also kind of my hero, he wasn't what I expected. For starters he was way younger than what I was used to. I think like eleven or twelve and he was… I don't know. He just wasn't what I thought he'd be. Not disappointing, but I was taken back by his general demeanor. He seemed kind of hollow and was just getting better and better at hiding it. I mean we didn't do much that night but I learned a lot that night from him. I also had some motivation to get better at few things because I couldn't let this kid be better than me at things I'm supposed to school everyone with. Well he's still better than me but it doesn't bother me as much now because I've accepted it as more of an experience thing."

Roy glanced back. She'd moved from her dark corner to resting her back against the glass as she listened.

"It's kind of annoying actually. He's stupidly honorable and it's hard to not to feel jealous. This kid went from losing everything and having nothing to having Superman call him a multiverse constant and take his word like it's platinum and there's nothing else to it. That in the end he'll always do the right thing and have the right intentions. He's still everything I secretly aspire to be, and it's nice that he's actually my friend and I'm not just some creepy older person that tries to talk to him."

They sat there in silence for several minutes. Roy had never admitted that before. His jealously that Dick was always held at a higher standard. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for someone like Jason or Tim to have those kind of shoes to fill. It almost didn't feel fair.

"You sound like Jason."

Her voice was quiet and he almost missed it.

"What?"

"Jason says those same things. He believes I don't listen." She turned slightly to look

Roy in the eye. "I always listen."

She turned away again as she stood up and crouched back down into her dark corner.

Roy thought about those words for a moment. ' _I always listen_ '. This girl worked with Batman and seemed to have far more skill than she let on. A combination on Shadows and Batman training would make her extremely lethal. It also would mean she's coming up with a plan and knows exactly what she's doing.

Maybe she was telling Roy to just shut up and wait something out.

"You listen to _everything_?" He asked her.

Her eyes flickered in his direction before refocusing on the door.

 _Yeah, she knows what she's doing_. Roy settled himself in for the long haul. He wondered where Batman had found her or if she'd be willing to share at some point.

* * *

 **ANNNNNNNNNDDDD I'm back. Sorry it took so long to get this out I had a lot of school stuff that was taking up pretty much all of my time. This was originally supposed to be split into two but I changed my mind and did a lot of re working and taking some things out that I want to wait before revealing them to my audience. Alright, that's it. Again not sure when the next chapter will be up but I already have it outlined so hopefully not too long.**


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